“Very good.” Qi Xia nodded. “I must survive here. If anyone obstructs me, the consequences will be severe.”

This single statement frightened everyone present quite badly. After all, Qi Xia’s eyes looked exactly like those of a murderer.

He truly seemed capable of killing someone.

Even the usually grinning and joking Qiao Jiajin became serious at this moment.

A question couldn’t help but surface in his mind—

Just what kind of person was Qi Xia?

After this incident, everyone obediently stood up like docile sheep and moved behind the iron plate.

Seeing this, Qi Xia slowly released his grip. The middle-aged man and Little Glasses supported each other, still shaken from their ordeal.

Qi Xia knew he had achieved his objective. He was now the sole leader of this group.

“How are you going to make everyone survive?” a slightly plump girl asked.

“It can be explained in one sentence.” Qi Xia slowly replied. “The answer is ‘Eagle Catches Chickens.'”

“Eagle… Catches Chickens?” Everyone seemed somewhat confused.

“Now we have all three roles.” Qi Xia extended his hand and pointed toward the black bear in the distance, saying, “The Eagle.”

Then he pointed at the disheveled group of two men and five women, saying, “The Chickens.”

Finally, he glanced at Qiao Jiajin and called out, “The Mother Hen.”

“Mother your ass…” Qiao Jiajin said with a look of disgust. “Can’t you use a different name?!”

Everyone now somewhat understood.

The iron plate on the ground was extremely heavy. To use it to resist the black bear, the best method was to roll it on the ground. However, the iron plate had limited surface area and very poor flexibility. Once people scattered, the situation would become dangerous.

The best approach was to have one person move the plate while the rest lined up in a column behind him.

While everyone was contemplating this, the black bear had already approached. At this moment, its eyes seemed to have no other target—it was fixated solely on Qiao Jiajin.

“It’s coming!” Qi Xia quietly signaled to Qiao Jiajin.

Upon hearing this, Qiao Jiajin immediately extended both legs backward, positioning his entire body at an angle and bracing the iron plate with his shoulder.

The next second, the black bear swung its thick forearm and struck the iron plate viciously.

Clang!

A tremendous sound rang out. The black bear’s attack was deflected, and both it and Qiao Jiajin retreated a step.

Fortunately, Qiao Jiajin had prepared his defensive stance in advance. Otherwise, although this strike wouldn’t break through the iron plate, it would be enough to flatten him into a pancake.

Seeing the dangerous situation, everyone hurriedly tightened their formation.

The four men stood at the front of the line, with the five women behind them.

Even the middle-aged man obediently grabbed onto Qi Xia’s clothes.

“Hey, you liar, how many more attacks like this will there be…?”

Qi Xia looked at the clock on the distant wall and said, “Don’t worry, there are only seven minutes left.”

“Seven…” Qiao Jiajin was stunned. “Damn, this is just the beginning?!”

“Black bears don’t have good stamina,” Qi Xia said. “I don’t believe it will attack continuously for the remaining time. We just need to endure the early phase. Don’t let your guard down.”

The black bear adjusted its posture and kept moving to the side.

Qi Xia also tugged at Qiao Jiajin’s clothes, controlling his direction and making the iron plate roll across the ground.

This maneuver stumped the black bear.

Although it possessed destructive power, it ultimately wasn’t an agile-type predator and couldn’t immediately launch an attack from the side. It could only keep shifting its massive body around.

But no matter where it moved, the iron plate always faced it.

“Woo—”

The black bear kept growling lowly. It had already circled around everyone once but still couldn’t find any opening to attack.

Actually, “Eagle Catches Chickens” had a very easy method to break through—the “Eagle” would suddenly change direction. For instance, if the “Eagle” had been moving right and suddenly moved left, the “Chicken” line would be caught at the tail end due to movement inertia.

This was a tactic everyone had learned from playing the game countless times in childhood. Qi Xia didn’t believe the black bear before him would figure out such a clever move in a short time.

“Good… very good…” Qi Xia murmured to himself. “Just keep this stalemate going…”

At this moment, everyone held onto each other in a chain. Although the line was long, they all maintained an absolutely safe distance from the black bear.

“Your method might actually work…” Qiao Jiajin said quietly. “It’s just that I’m getting a bit tired…”

“Endure a little longer,” Qi Xia said. “Six-plus minutes will pass quickly.”

“But I haven’t eaten for a whole day and night, I…”

“It’s coming!!” Qi Xia shouted loudly.

Qiao Jiajin immediately adjusted his center of gravity, lowering his entire body and colliding with the black bear once more.

CLANG!!

This strike was clearly more forceful than the previous one. Qiao Jiajin nearly toppled over along with the plate.

“This damn bear just won’t quit!!” the middle-aged man nervously shouted. “Hey! You young fellow at the front, you’d better hold on tight!”

“You try holding it yourself, damn it!” Qiao Jiajin cursed without restraint. He felt his entire body aching from the impact, as if his bones were falling apart.

The black bear discovered that even its full-force strike hadn’t broken through the defense line, and it appeared extremely enraged.

It paused in place and began slowly retreating.

“What’s happening?” Little Glasses asked. “Is it giving up?”

Qi Xia frowned slightly, sensing something was wrong.

Retreating?

“Oh no!”

He suddenly realized something and immediately lowered his stance, joining Qiao Jiajin in bracing the iron plate. Then he turned back to the middle-aged man and said, “Hey! You control the direction!”

“Huh?”

Although somewhat confused, the middle-aged man knew the iron plate before them represented everyone’s lives and naturally didn’t dare slack off. He could only imitate what Qi Xia had done earlier, pulling on the two men’s clothes to control the direction of the iron plate.

Just as Qi Xia had anticipated, the black bear’s retreat wasn’t giving up—it was preparing to use a running start to enhance its offensive.

“It’s preparing for an all-out assault,” Qi Xia looked at Qiao Jiajin beside him and said. “If we can block this attack, we’ll have an eighty to ninety percent chance of surviving.”

“That’s the same as saying nothing,” Qiao Jiajin shook his head helplessly. “Our problem right now is that we don’t know if we can block it!”

The black bear kept retreating, and soon it had backed up to the wall.

The middle-aged man controlling the direction saw this scene and couldn’t help swallowing hard.

The black bear’s stationary strike was already deadly enough. If it added a running start and pressed down with its full body weight, could this iron plate alone withstand its charging assault?

“Fat guy!” Qiao Jiajin shouted. “Remember to give us a heads up when it attacks!”

But at this moment, the middle-aged man seemed to hear nothing. His eyes were rapidly moving, as if pondering something.

The black bear scraped its front claws against the ground and suddenly began accelerating.

Seeing this, the middle-aged man hesitated no longer and directly abandoned everyone, running toward an empty area behind them.

“Hey… you!” Before Qiao Jiajin could finish cursing, he already heard heavy footsteps approaching and could only hastily lower his stance.

At this moment, Little Glasses stepped forward, tugged at Qi Xia’s clothes, and roared, “The direction’s a bit off! A little more to the right!!”

Qi Xia and Qiao Jiajin simultaneously widened their eyes. “There’s no time to adjust the direction! Brace yourself!”

As soon as the words left their mouths, the two felt as if they’d been hit by a speeding truck. Their bodies, along with the iron plate, actually lifted off the ground, flew backward uncontrollably for half a meter, and then crashed heavily onto the floor.

This collision not only scattered the entire formation but also knocked the iron plate over, pinning both men beneath it.